Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone reports:
Current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer aren’t going to be inducted with the band at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and they won’t perform, either – but they’re showing up, nevertheless.
Gene Simmons confirmed to Rolling Stone via e-mail that he and Paul Stanley have invited Singer and Thayer to sit at their table during the April 10th ceremony, along with guitarist Bruce Kulick, who played in KISS during its make-up-free period, from 1984 to 1996. “The fact that they want me at their table means the world,” says Kulick.
With founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss also on hand, that means all surviving KISS members will be at Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center, except for hard-to-track-down guitarist Vinnie Vincent. “He’s kind of the Howard Hughes of KISS,” says Kulick.
Simmons and Stanley are upset with the Hall of Fame’s decision to induct only the four original members. “Tommy has been in the band 10 years,” Stanley told Rolling Stone in interviews for their current KISS cover story. “Eric’s been in the band 20 years.” (Minus a five-year interlude when the original band reunited.) “The idea of no one being even a candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame other than the four original guys is hogwash.”
Not surprisingly, Kulick, Thayer and Singer all endorse that sentiment. “Even if I was an outsider,” says Thayer, “I would say that all of the guys that have been in KISS over 40 years, all of the members, should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
As of last month, Singer was somewhat reluctant to attend. “If the choice is up to me, do I want to attend or not, then I don’t wanna go,” he told Rolling Stone before Simmons and Stanley invited him. “I personally don’t care about attending, but if Gene and Paul say, ‘No, we want you there,’ no problem. I’m there for you guys. I’m there for Gene and Paul and Tommy. For Kiss, the way it stands now, no problem. Or if they just want me to be there to celebrate Kiss in general, and that means everybody, fine, great, because I’m part of the whole story.”
There is no KISS performance slated for the ceremony. As reported in our cover story, Stanley and Simmons offered to allow the former members to jam with Kiss’ current lineup, featuring Thayer and Singer, who wear Frehley and Criss’ makeup, respectively. Frehley and Criss found that proposition deeply insulting. “I won’t be disrespected,” Criss says. “How can you put me in the Hall of Fame and then tell me to go sit over there in the corner while another guy puts on my makeup and plays? That’s an injustice. To the fans, too.”
source: rollingstone.com
149 Responses
It will be like the kids’ table at Thanksgiving! It’s perfect actually, so Gene and Paul along with those who weren’t inducted can watch Ace and Peter pull off a surprise and go out in style! It’s time for this soap opera to end!
“pull off a surprise”? What surprise? They both find the venue and arrive on time? Yes, that would be a surprise.
Of course they have to invite Bruce, Eric, and Fake Ace. Who else would sit at Gene/Paul’s table? They have no friends.
You are right, nobody likes them anymore…
That’s a very high school comment.
Ha..I think I just dribbled upon myself. You are so undeniably correct. I have loved and hated the band over the years. New makeup w/ Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent was fine. Creatures is one of my favorite albums. Enjoyed the non make up years as well……Nobody!!…and I mean nobody!!!!!! wears the catman or the man from Jendell’s makeup. The origins of the makeup are well documented. Each character was an extension of each musician. Characters have now become..a caricature. Need I… humbly…….say more??
Are you just echoing the old G and P rap of them being unreliable and high?? Lame.
if bruce kulick is coming,vinnies got to come!!!!
Fuck Gene. I guess Ace & Peter are over by Peter Asher and the Ronstadt people. Imagine if Thayer put on Ace’s make-up and performed.
The big news (as per Rolling Stone) is that Tom Morello will induct KISS into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Had a bad feeling this poser was going to be the chosen one. What’s he going to preach this time: the one per centers, Che Guevara, Wall Street, etc.? Maybe he’ll bring his little guitar and wah wah peddles a play us a crappy tune!
Who would you have preferred? Ted Nugent?
well at least everybody knows who ted nugent is, who’s tom morello?
Carr, Vincent, Kulick, Singer nor Thayer were ever “members” of KISS. They are strictly “employees” of KISS. Ace and Peter were KISS.
You are a delusional fool. If Ace and Peter were Kiss, then Kiss never would have been able to survive after they were out of the band. But as we all know, that was not the case.
Kiss was dieing in 95 when Ace and Peter came back in. We all know Ace and Peter aren’t ‘Kiss’, but they sure helped save Kiss from becoming a club band.
propaganda: It’s easy when you own the name and logo. Gene makes fun of Ace and Peter playing clubs. Well, how many copies did “Live to win” and “Asshole” sell, hmm…? Answer: HARDLY ANY.
A lot more than All For One.
The Truth is they were employees not members.
Gene and Paul have the name and logo, hence their survival…
The E Street Band is going into the Hall this year along with KISS. Springsteen is inducting them, and make no mistake, they are the definition of musical employees. Same goes with various members of the Grateful Dead, Metallica, and most likely the RHCP. So the employee comments that are dominating this site hold no water. I don’t think Thayer and Singer s/b in with KISS. But I don’t play the ’employee card’ like so many others do. There are more bands with one or two members at the controls than the democracy many people think exist in a band.
Not sure the E street band deserve to be there either.
There actually is no democracy in bands, with maybe a few exceptions like Rush, but then it is much easier when here are only three people. A band certainly needs one or a couple to be the driving force. Which does not mean “dictatorship” and also no bashing people for what they DID decades after.
Well it’s nice that Gene and Paul did invite Bruce Kulick to come but I hope they did at least extend the invitation out to Vinnie Vincent as well. Also I hope they invited surviving family members of Eric Carr and Mark St. John especially Carr’s family being that they stopped the lawsuit filed by fake family members.
Oh and this just in Tom Morello is inducting KISS during the ceremony. Interesting choice.